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Should I ship a Music Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Music
Only 16 developers shipped a Music Walking Simulator in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Mixtape, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 750% on the market; 20 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $178 (exactly $178) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,795) |
| Top 5% | $4.4M (exactly $4,416,790) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 750% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Walking Simulator
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Music
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Walking Simulator; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 7,716 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
- + HorrorFair
Comparable games
Journey 2020 · $16M 
Mixtape 2026 · $4.4M 
Kholat 2015 · $1.2M 
The Artful Escape 2021 · $1.1M 
The Unfinished Swan 2020 · $849k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Journey | older | $14.99 | 34,805 94% | 1.0M | $16M (exactly $15,651,808) | thatgamecompany |
| | Mixtape | $19.99 | 7,365 87% | 221k | $4.4M (exactly $4,416,790) | Beethoven and Dinosaur | |
| | Kholat | older | $19.99 | 2,036 67% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,220,989) | IMGN.PRO |
| | The Artful Escape | older | $19.99 | 1,801 91% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) | Beethoven and Dinosaur |
| | The Unfinished Swan | older | $14.99 | 1,888 83% | 57k | $849k (exactly $849,034) | Giant Sparrow |
 | Hatsune Miku VR | older | $24.99 | 616 72% | 18k | $462k (exactly $461,815) | Crypton Future Media |
 | Proteus | older | $9.99 | 1,420 82% | 43k | $426k (exactly $425,574) | Ed Key and David Kanaga |
 | Blanc | older | $14.99 | 846 77% | 25k | $380k (exactly $380,446) | Casus Ludi |
 | Never Again | older | $13.99 | 887 79% | 27k | $372k (exactly $372,274) | Primary Games |
 | Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP | older | $7.99 | 1,394 79% | 42k | $334k (exactly $334,142) | Capybara, Superbrothers, Jim Guthrie |
 | Sinker sound | · EA | $7.99 | 171 98% | 5.1k | $41k (exactly $40,989) | Chavafei |
 | Spiral | $19.99 | 34 91% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Folklore Games | |
 | Dreams of Another | $34.99 | 16 75% | 480 | $17k (exactly $16,795) | Q-Games Ltd. | |
 | ARIE: Moonprayer | $16.99 | 20 95% | 600 | $10k (exactly $10,194) | PhantomWorks | |
 | Fugaz | $5.99 | 54 100% | 1.6k | $9.7k (exactly $9,704) | Spheanix | |
 | The Lost Mixtape | $4.99 | 38 97% | 1.1k | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) | Vided Studio | |
 | Azrael's Tear | $9.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | Intelligent Games Ltd., Ken Haywood | |
 | Ambient Dark | · EA | $4.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Crystalline Green Ltd. |
 | Arbor Island | $4.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | CarrelSpace |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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